{"id":3267,"date":"2007-09-27T12:19:03","date_gmt":"2007-09-27T16:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/v3\/?p=3267"},"modified":"2008-09-05T12:23:16","modified_gmt":"2008-09-05T16:23:16","slug":"eagles-run-panthers-pass-different-philosophies-meet-friday-night-at-gray-vets-memorial-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/?p=3267","title":{"rendered":"Eagles run, Panthers pass; different philosophies meet Friday night at Gray-Vets Memorial Field"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Levi Reihart<\/td>\nMatt Murray<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It\u2019s not quite the classic battle of wills, but when the Lewistown Panthers (1-3) visit Tyrone tomorrow night to face the undefeated Golden Eagles (4-0), it will be a contrast in offensive philosophies.
\nTyrone, which strives for offensive balance under coach John Franco, has gotten it done this season mainly with the run. Behind Shayne Tate\u2019s 569 yards, the Eagles have rushed for 924 yards for an average of 231 yards per game.
\nLewistown, meanwhile, has rested their hopes for success on the arm of junior quarterback Connor Muir, who has completed 48 of 97 passes for 658 yards and six touchdowns.
\nSo far, the results speak for themselves. While the Golden Eagles have controlled the ball and dominated teams with their defense, the Panthers have found themselves in a series of shootouts, coming up on the short end more often than not.
\nBut that doesn\u2019t make their vaunted passing attack any less worrisome for Franco, who said Muir is the best quarterback the Eagles have seen this season.
\n\u201cHe does a great job of putting the ball on the money,\u201d Franco said. \u201cHe has a naturally instinctive arm, and that\u2019s not something you can teach. You either have it or you don\u2019t have it. He\u2019s got a great feel for the game.\u201d
\nThat\u2019s due in no small part to Muir\u2019s upbringing. His father Allen is in his fourth season as the Panther\u2019s head coach, part of his two decades of coaching experience.
\n\u201cConnor spends a lot of time preparing. He watches a lot of film and does a lot of work in the summer,\u201d said coach Muir. \u201cHe might have a deeper understanding of what we\u2019re trying to do, probably because he\u2019s been watching me coach since he was a little boy.\u201d
\nConnor Muir and the Panthers have spread the ball around, with three receivers already over the 100-yard mark for the season. Zac Hesketh leads the team with 167 receiving yards.
\nHis efforts haven\u2019t been enough, however, to cover up for the Panthers\u2019 porous defense, which is surrendering 209 rushing yards per game. Nor has it made up for Lewistown\u2019s lack of a rushing offense of its own, as the Panthers average just 97 yards per game on the ground.
\n\u201cWe haven\u2019t put together all three phases of the game for four quarters,\u201d Muir said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been a matter of effort. The players have played with a lot of effort. But we have yet to execute for a full game. It\u2019s something we\u2019re working very hard on.\u201d
\nAfter last week\u2019s 28-6 shellacking of Bald Eagle Area, Tyrone may be turning a corner in that area. Tate again rushed for 100 yards, Shane Emigh ran for two scores, and sophomore Levi Reihart completed 11 of 14 passes for 117 yards. The Eagles also limited BEA to 109 yards of total offense, completely shutting down Bald Eagles\u2019 passing game.
\n\u201cTyrone is a team that executes very well on offense,\u201d said Muir. \u201cThey don\u2019t make mistakes. They run the ball very well, and they seem to be executing very well with Shayne Tate in there.\u201d
\nBut Tate, a wide receiver by trade, will most likely split carries this week with Johnny Franco after what father John Franco called \u201ca good week of practice,\u201d for the senior running back who had been out six weeks with a broken fibula.
\nFranco returned last week and played sparingly, eventually pulled in the first quarter when he experienced pain after cutting on a 17-yard run.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll play it by ear,\u201d coach Franco said. \u201cHe played through the pain this week at practice and looked pretty good carrying the ball. He\u2019s about 85 to 90 percent right now. We\u2019re hoping he can be 90 to 95 percent by Friday.\u201d
\nHis emergence can only improve an offense that did fairly well in his absence, one Franco said is growing by leaps and bounds each week after beginning the season with nine new starters.
\n\u201cOur offense is coming around little-by-little,\u201d Franco said. \u201cLast week we had just one turnover and no offensive false start penalties. That\u2019s a big improvement. It\u2019s always a big challenge when you have so many new players \u2013 we have nine new starters on offense from a year ago.\u201d
\nIn fact, Tyrone is slightly better than where it was a year ago, at least in terms of running the football. After four games in 2006, the Eagles were averaging 214 rushing yards per game, 17 yards fewer than this season.
\nBut Reihart\u2019s money performance a week ago gives Tyrone an added dimension at just the right time with Johnny Franco working his way back into the mix.
\nTime, time, time \u2026
\nIt\u2019s been a while since Lewistown has beaten the Golden Eagles. How long?
\nThe last time the Panthers defeated Tyrone, NAFTA was still a political football up for debate. The year was 1993 \u2013 the season before Franco\u2019s arrival at Tyrone \u2013 and Lewistown rolled over the Eagles 26-7 at Mitchell Field.
\nSince then, Tyrone has won 13 straight over the Panthers, with five victories coming by way of shutout. Lewistown scored a single touchdown in five of the other games.
\nNew Alignment
\nTyrone and Lewistown have faced off 60 times since 1923, and 32 straight seasons since 1975.
\nThis year\u2019s game will be the first time they\u2019ve played as members of the MAC Nittany Division. The Panthers dropped down to the small school division in the off-season after playing three years in the Seven Mountains Division.
\nAnother drop could be in the Panther\u2019s near future. According to Muir, Lewistown was \u201cabout 30 boys\u201d over the limit of AA classification at last count.<\/p>\n


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Levi Reihart Matt Murray It\u2019s not quite the classic battle of wills, but when the Lewistown Panthers (1-3) visit Tyrone tomorrow night to face the undefeated Golden Eagles (4-0), it will be a contrast in offensive philosophies. Tyrone, which strives for offensive balance under coach John Franco, has gotten it done this season mainly with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area","category-excerpts-from-the-tyrone-daily-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}